Transcription
All right, you've got your Bibles open in Matthew 6, and you have a marker at Luke 16. We're in a series called The Blessed Life. And this week, the title of the message is Breaking the Spirit of Mammon. Breaking the spirit of Mammon.
Uh, and I'm going to tell you what the word Mammon means because it doesn't mean what many people think that it means. And I'm going to show you every time that the word Mammon is in the Bible. It's actually in the Bible four times. Uh, but Jesus said it, that we know of, three times. So, one of the times it's in the Bible, it's a repeat. In other words, we're going to see it in Matthew and in Luke, but it'll be the same verse. All right? So, in Luke, we'll see all three times. Here it is.
Matthew 6, verse 24. Matthew 6:24. This is Jesus speaking in the Sermon on the Mount. "No one, no one, no one," I just want to emphasize that just for a moment, "can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon."
Now, flip to Luke 16. We'll see again, same uh sermon in essence. And yet, Luke is a physician, and he expounds a little bit. This we did this earlier when we saw a verse in Matthew 7 and Luke 6. Luke 16, verse 9. Jesus again speaking, "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much. And he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you've not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own? No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon."
All right, this is such an important verse that we need to understand what Mammon is because it's the only thing Jesus said you can't serve God and this. It's the only thing. No, we don't have that anywhere else in the Bible. So, I have three questions for you today. All right, here's number one.
What is Mammon? I mean, if Jesus said you can't serve God and Mammon, what is Mammon? Well, Mammon is an Aramaic word that means riches. Most people think that Mammon refers to money, but I don't think that's what Jesus was referring to here because not only was it an Aramaic word that means riches, but it came from, let me tell you where it came from. It came from the Syrian god of riches. And that came from Babylon.
Now, I don't know if you ever thought about this. Many people don't know. Most people know of the city Babylon, but they don't know where it came from. Well, let me just say it a little slower, and you'll, you'll know immediately where it came from. Babel. Oh, and matter of fact, let me say it this way just so you'll know what Babylon means. Babylon. Just that lady babbles on all the... Never mind. Uh, the word Babel, uh, means confusion. And Babylon came from the Tower of Babel, where God confused their language. And Babylon actually means sown or planted in confusion. This was a city that had its roots in confusion. But if you remember the Tower of Babel, they were going to build a tower on their own to heaven. They were going to build their own system to get to heaven. It represents a prideful, arrogant spirit of humanity that says, "We don't need God. We can do it on our own." And this is where the spirit of Mammon came from. Mammon is a spirit. And Mammon is a spirit. Jesus was referring to this false god of riches. This Syrian false god of riches. Mammon is a spirit.
Now, listen to me very carefully. That rests on money. All money, all money has a spirit on it. It either has the spirit of Mammon on it, or it has the spirit of God on it. All money that you have in your account right now, it, you cannot, listen, you cannot serve two masters. It's either God or Mammon. The money in your account right now either has the spirit of Mammon on it, or it has the spirit of God on it. The way you get the spirit of God on it, according to scripture, is you give the first 10% of it to the house of God. And then God redeems the rest out from under the curse, out from under the spirit of Mammon. And that's why that money is blessed and protected. That money can't be devoured by the devourer because it has God's spirit on it. How could the devourer touch something with God's spirit on it? That money is protected and blessed and has the ability to multiply. But if it doesn't have the spirit of God on it, if you didn't give the first 10% to God, it's not protected.
I know people that have that, uh, uh, didn't tithe, and they have this lump sum over here, and this lump sum is sitting in some investment or the bank or something, and it just keeps losing money. A, and I want to say to them, they say, "Well, I'm a Christian now, but I didn't know about tithing then." I understand that. But wouldn't you like the spirit of God on that money now? Why would you not take the tithe of the money now and give it to God so that that money would be blessed and protected instead of keep going down, down? Because the spirit of Mammon is, is on that. Mammon is a spirit.
And Jesus said here something very, very, very clear. I want you to hear what he said. You, you, you can't serve two. You can't serve both. You can't serve God and the spirit of Mammon. You can't do it. And he said, either you're going to love one and hate the other, or you're going to be loyal to one and despise the other. I want you to think about this. Many people don't realize it, but they actually despise God. Anytime something happens where they lose money, or something happens in their provision, their job, or something, they're, they're believers, many of them, but they get mad at God. Now, why? Listen. He said, "You're going to despise one." Listen why? Because you've been loyal to another one. Many of us unknowingly grew up loyal to and serving Mammon. And the problem with that is, is that Mammon can never deliver on its promise. Mammon tries to take the place of God. Mammon is in direct contrast to the spirit of God.
Let me tell you some things about Mammon. Mammon is looking for servants. And Mammon promises us everything that only God can give us. Think about it. Think about this. What, you've heard this before. Mammon promises us security. If you had more money, you'd be secure. Mammon promises us identity. People would listen to you. Significance. Mammon promises us freedom. If you had money, you could go where you want, when you want, and do what you want. Let me say that another way. You could be like Cain. You could do what you want with your money. Mammon promises, promises us happiness. If you had more money, you'd be happy. You'd have a good marriage if you had more money. People would respect you if you had more money. People would listen to you. That's what, listen, only God can give you security. Only God can give you identity. Only God can give you significance. Only God can give you purpose. Only God can give you love, peace, and joy. And yet, Mammon says, "If you had more money, you'd have a better marriage. You'd be happy, and you'd have peace. You wouldn't have all this stress if you had more money." Mammon is looking for servants. No man can serve two masters. He's looking for servants. Uh, Mammon, um, I, I'll tell you a little something else about Mammon. This will shock you. People don't realize how strong this spirit is. Mammon is the spirit of Antichrist. Now, it's clear in scripture. I mean, it's so clear, and every one of you, when I say it, you'll know it because you've heard this scripture. The spirit of Antichrist does not rule through the threat of nuclear war. According to the Bible, the spirit of Antichrist rules through the threat of not being able to buy and sell. Mammon. Mammon is a spirit.
Hey, if, if Mammon's not a spirit, how come it can talk? As I've heard it, every time you start to make a building commitment, or or give an offering, or step out and tithe, Mammon says, "You better not do that. You won't have enough." It's always trying to get us to not serve God. Mammon is always trying to take the place of God. Here's a, here's a big lie that Mammon says. "If you had more money, you could help more people." Isn't that amazing? Can I tell you what helps people? God. God helps people. See, Jesus never, ever, ever, ever told anyone that the answer to his problems was more money. Never. Never did a blind person, never did a deaf person, never did a prostitute run up to Jesus and say, "Have mercy on me, Son of David." And Jesus trying to say, "You just need more money." You ever say that? No. But let me just tell you, let me show you again how Mammon contrasts itself with God. Listen, because we've had these, you're going to find this humorous, but we've all had these thoughts. We've had the thought at some point in our lives, "I either need God to come through, or I need someone to give me some money. And if I get some money, I don't need you, God. Thank you. But my problem is solved. I got money." Are y'all hearing me? You seem really quiet today. There's a spirit. There is a spirit. And let me tell you, nowhere is that strong, that spirit stronger than America. You, you touch our financial institutions, and you watch all of America get shaken. It, it is a spirit that tries to take the place of God. That's what Mammon is. Mammon is a spirit. Jesus said you can't serve God and Mammon. You can't do it. You can't do it.
All right. Here's question number two.
Is money evil? Uh, Jesus said, Luke 16, "unrighteous mammon." Again, if we think money, Mammon is money, then we say, "unrighteous money." Money is unrighteous. You know, the Bible says money is the root of all evil. Well, I've heard that so many times. Let me read you what the Bible says. 1 Timothy 6:10. "For the love of money, the love, the lust is where this word comes from, of money is the, the desire for money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have aired from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." Let me say it another way. Serving Mammon is the root of all evil. You can't serve God and Mammon. Loving the love of money, the love of riches, the love of something other than God is the root of all evil. Greed and selfishness is the root of all evil. Bitterness, unforgiveness, resentment, all comes from loving and serving a false god instead of the true God.
Now, there in Luke 16, let's talk about a few of these verses. Verse 9 says, "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home." Now, that's kind of a strange way to say that, and I have to admit, the very first time I ever read that verse, I misunderstood it. Uh, it seems to be saying, "Use your money, uh, to make friends. Uh, use your money to, to do little things for people, and that way, if you ever have a problem, uh, then they'll help you." You know, that's, that seems to be what he's saying. It's not what he's saying at all. The, the key is the word "fail." This word in the Greek means to die, to, to expire physically. Okay? To die. Here's what he's saying. Take unrighteous mammon. Th, this, this money that has been dedicated to the spirit of the world. Take it and redeem it. Give the first part to me. Redeem it and bring it under my control. Use it to build the kingdom. You're going to make friends with this money. In other words, you're going to get to bring people into the kingdom that are going to get to be your friends. And listen, and when you die, here's the key. And when you die, they, not it. They, the people that you used your money to win to Christ, they will welcome you into an everlasting home. In other words, they're going to be standing at the gate of heaven when you go in saying, "Thank you." There are going to be people from other countries, other countries that you're going to meet in heaven. They're going to understand in heaven. We're going to know things in heaven. They're going to understand that it wasn't just a missionary that came, but it was these 19 people that gave for the missionary to come. And they're going to make sure they find those 19 people and say, "Thank you." Because if you hadn't given, then he wouldn't have come. And if he hadn't come, I wouldn't have known about Jesus Christ. I mean, isn't that incredible that you can actually take your money and use it for something good? Listen, God is the only one. This is, this is amazing to me. God is the only one that can turn money into souls. And we need to see it as that important. Money is not evil. Money is neutral. You can use it for good or bad. You can use it for temporal purposes or eternal purposes.
When, uh, after Debbie and I got, after I got saved, um, I started to say her because I was thinking we were already married, but after I got saved, um, I wanted to witness, and I just couldn't bring myself to talk to people about the Lord. And I found these little books called tracts, you know, you, you remember tracts, okay? And I, I thought that what that was, wow, wonder, wonder how they came the name "tracks" because for I got saved, "tracks" meant something else, but I thought that's cool. They took that name and put it on the gospel. That's good. And I figured some ex-addict did that, you know. So anyway, so I, I would take tracts and I'd leave them on the tables when we'd go eat. But nobody ever said anything. No one ever said, "Hey, I read that book and got saved." And I just couldn't understand it. So finally, I put a $50 bill in a tract as a tip, you know, and our meal is probably $9, you know, or something. This is back in in early 80s, 1980s. I got saved in '81. And so I put a $50 bill in the tract and left it on the table. And then we went back, uh, a little while later, and this lady came up and said, "I've been waiting for y'all to come back." She said, "I read that little book that you," she didn't know to call it a tract, you know, she hadn't been saved yet, but she said, "I read that little, little book that you left." And she said, "I prayed the prayer and gave my life to Jesus." And then she said, "And I called my husband and read it to him over the phone, and he gave his life to Jesus, too." And I said, "Wow, it's great. We're sitting there talking." And then I, it dawned on me. She said, "She called her husband." And I said, "So, did you call from the restaurant? She called him. Was he at home? Was he at work?" She put her head down. She said, "No, he's in prison." Can I tell you something? I'm going to meet that guy in heaven. He's going to say, "Thanks for the $50 track." So, money is not evil.
All right. Here's question number three.
What should I do with my money? What should I do with it according to the Bible? What should I do with my money? Well, it's, let me just give you the answer. Be a good steward. Honor God with the first and steward the rest. Be a good steward. Now, here's what some of you might be thinking. Pastor, I have too little of this unrighteous mammon to be concerned with this message. If I had more, then I would be really listening and taking notes. But I just don't have very much of it. So, uh, I really don't need to be concerned with this whole series on the blessed life. Okay? Listen to me lovingly. I want to tell you something. If that's your attitude, "I don't have very much," listen to me. Listen. And you never will. You never will. Never. Never. If you're not going to steward what you have.
Now, verse 10 says, "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much. And he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much." Do you understand that God doesn't give much until he finds a good steward? God gives a little and see what you, and sees what you do with it. And if you give him the first and steward it well, he'll give you more. And if you steward more, well, he'll give you more. You know, in the world, there's a saying, you know, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That's what the world says. Can I tell you what the kingdom principle is? Let me tell you the pre-kingdom principle. The kingdom principle is the good stewards get more, and the poor stewards don't. And that's the kingdom. Matthew 25, Jesus tells the parable of the talents, and he takes the one from the guy who only has one, but he was a bad steward, and he gives it to 10, the guy who has most. He actually takes from the poor and gives to the rich, which doesn't seem right, but apparently this guy was stewarding it well. So he takes from the poor steward and gives to the good steward. Please, please, please hear me. I'm, I'm begging you to hear me in this whole series. Give God the first. Steward it well. See what God does with it.
Let me show you another verse. Look at verse 12. Says, "And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?" If you're not been faithful in another man's, who will give you what is your own? Now, I understand that God owns it all. I understand that. But God specifically says, "The tithe belongs to me." This is specific in many, many places throughout the Bible. I've shown you some of those verses in this series. The tithe is mine. The tithe, it, it's mine. It belongs to me. And he even says that if you take it, you're stealing from me. You understand? You only have two choices with the tithe. You only have two choices. Either bring it to the house of God, or steal it. Those are your only two choices. If you keep it, you're stealing it. If you are, you, if you, or you bring it to the house of God. Okay. So, here, here's what God is saying. Okay. He said, if you've not been faithful with, with what is another man's, who will give you what is your own? Is it possible that he's talking about the tithe? If you won't be faithful with the 10%, why would I even give you the 90% with a blessing on it to do anything with it? Because that belongs to me. If you're not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who, who's going to give you what is your own?
And I learned this, uh, in kind of a strange way. Someone invited me years ago. I've played a lot of nice golf courses now. Years ago, I had not played any. I didn't, I didn't have the money to play any of these nice courses. And so this guy invited me to play the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. And that's, you know, a big deal for a golfer. And so I went, and it was just, just gorgeous and all. And I went in the pro shop, and they had these, uh, jackets on because it was the end of the season, 50% off. Said Colonial Country Club, you know, and I thought, you know, I could afford that, and I do need a jacket, and, you know, and, and so, but I, and I called Debbie on the phone. I said, "Hey, um, uh, there's this jacket." And she said, "Yeah, you need one. We've been talking about it." I said, "Well, this how much?" "Yeah, buy it. That's great." And so she's in, she's fine. We got the money in the bank. We're not going to put it on a credit card or something, you know. So everything's fine. So I buy it. I'm excited. I'm driving away from the golf course, and I start feeling guilty, and I start thinking, "I probably shouldn't do this. You know, I probably shouldn't wear a jacket that says Colonial Country Club." And I probably should, you know, I just thought all these ways, and I was always second-guessing myself. I don't know if any of you have ever been like this. And, uh, so I drove back and returned it. And then I drove home, and I walked in. Deb said, "Where's your new jacket?" I said, "I took it back." "What do you mean you took it back?" I said, "Well, I just kind of felt guilty. Maybe I shouldn't have bought it." "It was on sale. I told you to buy it." "I know. I know. I know." She said, "You need to go back and buy it." So, the next day I went back, and it was gone. Oh, okay. Don't go buy me a jacket. I, I'm okay. I can afford my own. Okay. Please. All right. I'm okay. But, uh, and I'm driving away, and I'm mad at God. And I said to God, "I don't, I don't understand. You hold me to this high level financially, and here I, one time, one time I buy a nice jacket, and you make me take it back." And, and the Lord, you know, he just kind of got tired of it. He said, "I didn't make you take that jacket back." He said, "You always blame me for stuff like this." I said, "Well, Lord, you know," and I said, "I, I, yeah, but I don't want to spend your money wrong because I'm thinking it all belongs to God." Now, listen to me. This is what he said to me. He said, "Son, that was your money. Listen to me." And he brought this scripture to mind. He said, "If you'll be faithful with the 10%, I give you the 90. It is mine. Everything belongs to me, but I give it to you. You can, you can drive a nice car with it. You can live in a nice home. You can have a jacket that you like. If you'll be faithful with what's mine, I'll give you what is your own." You, you could, you understand what I'm saying? Now, I, I understand all belongs to God, but I'm telling you, God likes to bless us if we'll be faithful. He really does.
Then look at this scripture. Here's the last scripture I want to show you. Therefore, verse 11, "Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?" If you've not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? Well, what are true riches? Well, let me tell you. It's very simple. True riches are people. Because people last forever. I want you to understand that nothing on this earth is going to last forever. We used to have a, this friend in college, and he used to always say, you know, "It's going to burn. It's going to." That was just his statement. This was in Bible college. We'd drive by a nice house. We'd say, "Look at that house." He'd say, "It's going to burn." You know, so, well, he was right. He really was. It's all going to burn. Heaven and earth are going to be destroyed. Then there's going to be a new heaven, new earth. There's only one thing that's going to make it to eternity that you're, that's right in this sanctuary right now. There's only one thing. It's people. Souls. Souls are true riches.
So if you can't be, listen what God's saying, if you can't even handle your money, why would I give you people to steward? And every one of us, if we're believers, we should be stewarding people. We should be mentoring. We should be helping. We should be leading a group. We should be volunteering. We should be serving. We should be doing something. And yet God says, "Well, you can't even handle this. Why would I give you true riches?"
And let me tell you what that really came home to me. And, um, kind of a funny story. My daughter and her husband, Ethan and Lane, right here on the front row. If you're at the other campus, you can see them right there. And, uh, did y'all wave? Good. You did, but he didn't. That's normal. So, um, so anyway, uh, so you, different personalities, you know. So, um, when they began dating, of course, Ethan came to me first and asked my permission. I didn't give it at first. I said, "I want you to be friends." And, uh, I wanted to see if he would honor me. If he wouldn't honor me, he wouldn't honor her. That's right. Amen. If he would, if he didn't do what I asked him to do, then he, he's not going to, you know, he's not, if he's not a man of his word, why would I want him hanging around? I said, "Won't you be friends?" So, went through a process. Well, then as they got my okay to begin dating, they were standing around in a group of young adults after seven one night, seven or eight of them talking. And they got to talking about tithing and and my stance on tithing and how strong I am on tithing. And one of them said to, just kind of joking, said to Elaine, "I'll bet your dad even checks the tithing records of the guys that date you." And Elaine, and that was her answer. Elaine said, "He does." And when she did, Ethan said, "Uh oh." And she said, "What do you mean, uh oh? What? What do you mean, uh oh? You told me you tithe." And here's what he said. He said, "Well, there was one time when I was one day late." Because he didn't have internet at home because it cost so much. So, he would go to the Starbucks and he would do his tithe online. He'd get paid on Thursday. And on Friday, he'd go to Starbucks and do his tithe. But one Friday he wasn't, or do it at work, right? And so, but one Friday he wasn't working. So, he did it on Saturday, but he always felt bad about it because he was one day late. And he just immediately said, "Uh oh, I was one day late one time." And, uh, they started laughing. They said, "Oh, your dad won't notice that." And Elaine said, "Yes, he will." They said, "Why don't you ask him?" She said, "Okay." So, she came home. She said, "Dad, did you, uh, check Ethan's tithing record?" I said, "Yeah." She said, "Well, was it okay?" I said, "There's one time when he was one day late. And I'm going to ask him about it next time we meet." Okay, listen to me now. I'm going to say something kind of strong, but listen. Of course, I would check the tithing record of a young man that wants my daughter. Why would I give my daughter to a thief? Amen. Let me say it another way. Why would I give true riches to someone who can't even handle money?
When she got married, she said, "Dad, I want you just to be daddy. We're going to have Pastor Preston marry us." I said, "That's fine with me, sugar." She said, "But we do want you to come up and say something." And so I prayed and said, "Lord, what should I say? The one thing I'm gonna just take a few moments of my daughter's wedding, my only daughter. What did I say?" And then it came to me. And so when I went up, I said to her, I said, "You know, Elaine, I'm, um, I'm known for giving. I'm actually known for giving extravagantly, but you are the most extravagant gift I've ever given. Why would I give something so priceless to someone that would not steward it? Why would the heavenly Father, who has all power to bless you, why would he ever give you significance or influence or even wealth if he can't trust you as a steward?"
I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes. Please hear me. This is more important than you think. I know some of you have had difficulties in this area, and you're thinking, you know, a few more weeks, we'll be, we'll be finished with this tithing series, and Pastor Robert just doesn't understand my finances, and he doesn't understand this, and he doesn't understand that. I, I don't know how else to tell you. I am pleading with you. I'm pleading with you. You cannot serve God and Mammon. And there is a spirit that is lying to you, that has lied to you for years and said that your way is better than God's way. I'm telling you, it's not better. I promise you. I'm simply asking you, like God asked you in his word. Try it. Try my way. Try my way. We want to pray for you. No matter which campus you're attending, if you're going through some difficulties in any area, and it may be in, in a financial area, but maybe it's in a relationship area, maybe it's, it's in your spiritual walk with God, maybe you feel far from God, and you need to come home. Maybe you've gotten a bad report, maybe there's someone in your family that's far from God. You want someone to agree with you in prayer. If you need prayer in any area of your life, in just a moment, we're going to stand. And when we stand at every campus and in every overflow room, I want you to just come to the front, and we're going to have leaders here that will pray for you. We love you. So, it, uh, you don't have to be a Gateway Church member to come for prayer. If you need prayer in any area of your life, as soon as we stand up, don't be embarrassed. Just stand up, step out, and come, and let us pray for you. And if you don't have to leave, if it's not an emergency, I'm asking you to stay. We're just going to do one more worship song, and then we'll be dismissed because people are making decisions right now. Life-changing decisions. So if you can stay during this time and worship God with us. All right. If you need prayer, as soon as we stand up, just step out and come. Holy Spirit, I pray you'll draw every person that needs any prayer at every campus in Jesus name. Amen.